Spring snapshots

This photo screams spring to me because, well, it says "happy spring" on the sidewalk! lol Kidding! It's those pink ladybugs on her gingham dress and also the two mosquito bites on her forehead--poor baby! Spring/summer and mosquitos go hand in hand down here, unfortunately. And yes, she did attempt to eat the chalk after I used it. :)




It's been in the 90's here so yesterday when Camden woke up from her nap and was still grumpy, I let her "swim". It took her a few minutes to get used to the idea but then she had a blast! She loves splashing and crawling all around the little pool. She also loves pulling the grass up and putting it in the water. Ew! Oh, and I need to buy some of those little swimmies. Her diaper must have held about 2 gallons of water by the time she got out of the pool!




Have to add one of the boy! The city was doing something with all the fire hydrants in our neighborhood and Cade thought it was the coolest thing ever to get to play in the water. He was totally bummed when the water was turned off. :)


I'm adding these photos over at Natalie's Sentiments for a chance to win this:

Check out her blog, yall...lots of great "currently's" on her sidebar, a couple of cute kids, and fun giveaways!

Public Enemy #1

Mr. Wasp,

I've never liked flying insects that sting. So you've never really been a friend of mine. But yesterday after you stung my baby girl? I wanted to kill you. And I did. I smacked you with a stack of papers and it killed you. To be honest, that just didn't seem good enough. I wanted to slowly torture you. Instant death wasn't punishment enough. Why the heck did you sting my baby? She just wanted to pick you up. She's only 7 months...she learns about things by touching. And tasting. Thank goodness she didn't get you to her mouth! After a dose of Motrin, the swelling in her hand has gone down and she's doing fine. That means I'm feeling much better about the whole thing. I'm calm now and I realize you were just doing your wasp thing. Let's make a deal. You stay out of my house and I won't kill you. But if you ever mess with one of my kids again...I will not hesitate to snuff the life out of you.

Sincerely,
Angry Mama Bear

**for the record, I'm not a violent person. I just don't like my babies getting hurt! :)

Pooped

This is not a picture of me. It is, however, prety much how I feel. I'm pooped. Worn out. My 7 month old, as adorable as she is, does not sleep well. Seriously. She's up every 1-2 hours. All. Night. Long. Like I said, I'm tired (pronounced tarred, like a true southerner!).



Another picture of not me. But definitely how I feel. 24 hours a day is just not enough. Not when there's homeschooling and cooking (from scratch?!) and cleaning (sweeping and dishes and bathrooms, oh my!) and laundry and baby raising and nursing said baby and character training and grocery shopping and homemaking and bill paying and bible study and taking a shower and getting dressed/made up and personal time and taking care of a husband and requesting defensive driving for his traffic ticket (such a pain when the ticket was received in another city) and non-sleeping all night long to do. Whew! Just typing all that I'm supposed to do every day wears me out. Is it possible to get it all done? Cause I'm reading blogs (uh-oh, might be a time waster, there!) and I "see" all these women that seem to be getting it all done. So either they're super women or they're not telling the truth. Hmm.

Alright, I'm off to put my precious, no sleeping babe back to bed. And yes, I'll be taking a nap with her!

Halloween

Cade wanted to be a blue crayon so I made his costume from felt. I think it turned out pretty good and he loved it!





He wanted his sister to be a princess so I had someone form Etsy make a tutu for her. She looked adorable, of course! As happy and smiley as this baby is, I cannot get her to smile for the camera. Rotten girl!

Thoughts on Whole Living

I used to subscribe to body + soul magazine. My favorite part was the "ten thoughts on whole living" page at the very end. I've actually torn them out and kept them to refer back to. Here are a few of my favorites...

Sometimes picking your battles means letting go of a need to engage in them. (I'm embarrassed to say I've battled with loved ones over things that are just plain stupid. Why do I feel the need to argue about silly, trivial things?)

Walk a little, every day. (There have been days that I don't walk much...I spend a lot of time on the computer. On those days, my body seems to get stiff and achey. Movement, activity and exercise are *necessary*.)



A healthy life stems from better choices. (It's all about choices...and perspective...and attitude!)

Try not to let the lure of electronics strip away your ability to be here now. (I have a love/hate relationship with my computer and cell phone. You know how it is.)


Worth doesn't begin and end with a bank account. Appreciate you true abundance. ("A worthy woman who can find? For her price is far above rubies." Proverbs 31:10 ASV)

Here's What I'm Working on...

This is the small bookshelf we're working on. I forgot what kind of wood it's made of but it's good quality and very sturdy. The trim has been cut and just needs to be glued/nailed on. Then I have to paint it. There are two other bookshelves that need to be painted, as well. They're much larger, though. 6 ft by 4 ft. Huge! Those 2 will go in the living room, on on either side of the tv. This smaller one is going in the office and will be our "homeschool" bookshelf. It's really deep so it'll hold quite a bit.

See all the frames on the cardboard in front of the bookshelf? I bought them at Goodwill. They were all a cheap, tacky gold. I spray painted them and now they all hold Veggietales pictures that Cade drew! I matted his drawings on cardstock and framed them. I'm so proud of how talented he is and he's so proud to see his pictures framed around the house!

Here's the other thing I've been working on:


She's so stinkin' cute! Seriously, she's such a happy baby. She makes me want more babies. Except for when she's up til midnight. Then I don't want more!

That was a Long Break

Whoa. It's been over 4 months since I last posted. We've had lots going on...new house, new baby, yadda yadda yadda! I'll try to keep up better but who knows how well I'll do. I'm always struggling to find balance. Why is that so darn hard? There's just so much to do. Cook, clean, do laundry, homeschool, take care of the baby, play with my son, take care of myself, help my husband, dole out supplements, give baths, etc. In my free time I usually read blofgs rather than post to my own. I'm going to work on that, though.

Anyway, my princess baby was born on July 21 weighing 9 pounds and 10 ounces. She was born a mini linebacker! lol I had a successful VBAC even though she was bigger than her brother. Unfortunately, I had a few complications and was in and out of the hospital for that first week. Praise God all is well now. So baby girl is now 2 1/2 months old and just so stinkin' precious! She's rolling from tummy to back already (too early!) and is always smiling. She's a good baby...never cries unless she's ready to go to bed. She sleeps okay. Better than her brother did but still not great. Cade absolutely adores her. He just loves her to pieces and is so protective of her.

I have yet to catch her smiling with my camera. Stinker!